u.s. government

Cyberattacks against Lockheed Martin -- one of the largest defense contractors for the U.S. government -- have stepped up significantly in both pace and savvy, according to Reuters.

"The number of campaigns has increased dramatically over the last several years," Lockheed vice president and chief information security officer Chandra McMahon said in a news conference today, according to Reuters. "The pace has picked up."

McMahon claims that roughly 20 percent of the attacks are being perpetuated by other countries or groups that aim to steal information or threaten the company's operations. She told reporters … Read more

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--The struggle for control of MegaUpload's servers begins in earnest later today.

The courtroom of U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady is expected to be packed with lawyers representing the many parties with some kind of stake in what happens to the billions of files stored on MegaUpload's 1,100 servers. Expected to appear are attorneys representing consumers, MegaUpload, the six major Hollywood studios, the U.S. government and MegaUpload's hosting service.

The U.S. government in January accused MegaUpload, founder Kim DotCom, and six other company managers of criminal copyright violations, racketeering, and … Read more

When the file-swapping site MegaUpload was shuttered by the U.S. government--and consequentially its offices raided, $42 million of its assets frozen, and its leader Kim DotCom arrested--some officials might not have thought of unintended consequences, such as the loss of legitimate files.

They also might not have realized that they too might be outed as having used MegaUpload.

During an interview with TorrentFreak this week, DotCom said, "Guess what--we found a large number of Mega accounts from U.S. government officials, including the Department of Justice and the U.S. Senate."

Released on bail earlier this month, … Read more

During these lonely nights of wondering what will happen to America's vast indebtedness, I am sure that several of you have been wishing that Steve Jobs would sort out this mess.

It seems clear that he might be very direct, tell everyone just how it's going to be and even ensure that the economy doesn't merely function, but also looks good.

You might think I am not being serious. But consider that, thanks to my regular reading of the Financial Post, you might now learn that Apple has more cash than the U.S. government.

The U.S Treasury told the world on Thursday that it has $73.768 billion stashed away in various shoes and socks. Apple, on the other hand, in its latest and most fascinating quarterly earnings disgorgement, casually mentioned that it has $75.876 billion lying around.

I am not entirely sure how these figures compare with, for example, the Mafia. However, it seems that Google, which seems like the ultimate cash business, merely has $39.1 billion to spend on, um, new ideas about social networking.

Microsoft used to have more than that. At the end of 2010, its nest egg seems to have numbered $40.23 billion. But its $8.5 billion emotional commitment to Skype may have cut into that.

I am told that the U.S. government's figure is a little less descriptive than Apple's. After all, the government can just print some more dollars using old machines whenever it feels like it. Apple has to make new machines in order to add to its coffers.… Read more

Google is for the first time launching Chrome, Google Earth, and Picasa for users in Iran, according to the company's official blog.

The U.S. government recently lifted some of the restrictions prohibiting software downloads to Iran. Now, the search giant is looking to get its downloadable products into the hands of Iranian citizens while at the same time blocking access to the Iranian government.

"We're committed to full compliance with U.S. export controls and sanctions programs and, as a condition of our export licenses from the Treasury Department, we will continue to block IP addresses … Read more

An e-mail sent to an unknown number of government employees and contractors two days before Christmas appeared to be a holiday greeting from the White House but instead hid malware that stole data.

The innocent-looking holiday e-greeting prompted recipients to click to view the card, but when the file was opened, malware known as "Zeus" was downloaded to the computer, according to reports. Zeus is known as a banking Trojan horse designed to steal passwords and online credentials, mostly for financial fraud.

The Department of Homeland Security is "aware of and monitoring the situation," spokeswoman Amy … Read more

Research In Motion has been butting heads with foreign governments over its tight security, but its latest BlackBerry 6 OS has won approval from the U.S. government for those same standards.

RIM announced today that its BlackBerry 6 operating system is now FIPS 140-2 certified. FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) is a series of standards set up by the U.S. government to ensure that computer products meet certain high-level security requirements. The standard is used by government agencies, regulated industries, and other organizations that store and send data dealing with sensitive information.

The FIPS 140-2 standard (PDF) specifically … Read more

The Chrysler Group today announced new incentives, "Double CA$H for Your Old Car," that can save consumers up to $9,000 toward the purchase of a new Chrysler, Jeep, or Dodge vehicle.

Beginning July 23, 2009, Chrysler Group LLC will offer up to $4,500 Consumer Cash or 0 percent financing for 72 months through GMAC Financial Services on most 2009 model vehicles. These incentives are valid through August 31.

The U.S. Government's Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program, more commonly known as "cash for clunkers," also starts July 23, 2009. The CARS … Read more

The U.S. Department of Defense issued a memo Friday that states it intends to begin blocking network access--including that of soldiers serving overseas--to several popular "Internet entertainment sites" on Monday, according to the Associated Press. The 12 total sites to be blocked include several large social networking and media sharing sites like MySpace, YouTube, MTV, Pandora, and Photobucket.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Army cracked down on soldiers' personal blogs, citing security concerns. Operational security, according to the memo from the DoD that was cited in Monday's AP article, is also a reason behind the … Read more